The Data Master: Year 4
by lookitstj
Summary: Inui needs a way into his choice college, and his old middle school provides the perfect opportunity. As Inui works towards his future, he meets with a new breed of middle school tennis players each wanting to take their team to Nationals. Along the way, Inui will find himself looking at the world of middle school tennis with a brand new, and sometimes surprising, perspective.
1. Chapter 1

As Inui Sadaharu pulled into the Seishun Gakuen entrance, memories from three years of his life began flooding into his mind. His first time meeting Tezuka and the gang, the first data notebook he had ever completed, Seigaku going to nationals, and hundreds of other good memories bought a smile to the bespectacled 18-year-old as he approached the parking lot.

When he attended the middle school, Inui had never noticed how small the parking lot. However, now that he drove, he had a new appreciation for just how hard it must've been to find a parking spot. Even now, when most of the staff and students had gone home, Inui had to park at the very end of the lot; meaning an even longer walk to the tennis courts. Maybe he'd jog, actually. Between exams and college applications, he rarely had time for working out. He missed playing tennis and found himself wondering how the other former Seigaku regulars were doing. He would have to call them or something later.

Getting out of his old (but very well taken care of) car, Inui looked at his phone and proceeded to jog towards the courts. He was already pretty late and there was no doubt that Ryuzaki would have a blast mocking him about it. Inui decided that this was what he deserved for letting Yanagi talk him into going to high school in Kanagawa instead of staying at Seigaku for high school. He grabbed his book-bag out of the car and proceeded to jog.

Although it only seemed a few seconds, it was actually about five minutes before Inui arrived at the courts and to his chagrin found that the regulars had already been chosen. Ryuzaki was saying something, but stopped when she noticed Inui and waved him over. She had changed little over the last three years, although she had slightly more grey in her hair than before.

"Ah, Inui-kun, I'm glad you could make it!" She said with a smile. And so the teasing began. With a sheepish grin, Inui stepped in to give her a hug. She looked at him appraisingly before fully releasing him, the way a parent would look at their child after a few months away.

"Guys listen up!" She said loudly, causing all of the tennis players to look towards Inui and the regulars to turn around to face him. "This is one of our former regulars, Inui Sadaharu. He's going to be helping out this season for his high school and I want you to treat him with the upmost respect, is that understood?" A thunderous 'yes' almost rocked Inui, who held back a cheesy smile.

"Are you _the _Inui-san? The one who helped take Seigaku to nationals a few years ago?" One of the kids in the back asked. Out of the corner of his eye, Inui saw Ryuzaki nod and could almost see the proud smile on her face. With that said, Inui bowed towards the tennis club.

"It'll be an honor working with you all," he said respectfully before turning his eyes again towards the regulars. Two in particular caught his attention; one was Kaidoh Kauro's younger brother Hazue and the other appeared to be a girl.

"Well that's all for today you guys, I need to talk to Inui-kun about some things. You guys be ready to work-out tomorrow. Good night, stay safe." Inui watched as the students began to disperse. He noticed one of the regulars, a redhead with silver cross earrings, looking at him with a challenging smirk. Another regular, this one blond, wrapped an arm over the redhead's shoulders, smiled at Inui, and dragged the redhead off.

"Inui-san!" A voice called out to him. Inui turned his head and saw Hazue walking towards him. The boy, who was a 3rd-year by Inui's calculations, bowed respectfully.

"Inui-san, I just wanted to say it's good to see you again. Kaoru is gonna be glad to hear that you're back." Inui smiled at this. It had been quite some time since he'd seen his former protege.

"It's nice to see you again too Hazue-kun. Tell Kaoru-kun I said hi." With a final nod, Hazue ran off to follow the two regulars Inui had noticed earlier. Inui also noticed the regular who looked like a girl walking with a group of the other regulars.

"So Inui-kun," Ryuzaki began, forcing Inui's attention back to herself. "How have you been? It's been a while since I heard from you." Inui laughed in spite of himself at Ryuzaki's tone. It was almost motherly.

"I've been good Ryuzaki-sensei, just busy with all of this college stuff and what-not. It's a miracle I managed to clear my schedule for this." He said with a smile. It was nice to be talking to Ryuzaki in the Seigaku tennis grounds again. Just like old times.

"That's good to hear. You actually just missed Sakuno. She was video-taping the intraschool rankings, but had to leave for cram. Poor girl gets no sleep between tennis, studying, and every boy in the high school and the middle school wanting to date her." Ryuzaki said with a chuckle. Inui gave a sympathetic laugh.

"Yes, I know how that rough studying can be. Anyway, you said you had videos of the tournament?" Inui asked, eager to get to the point of his visit (and more importantly, his drive all the way to Seigaku). Sensing this, Ryuzaki nodded, a gleam of responsibility entering her eyes. She led Inui into the coach's room, where a relatively new desktop sat, already turned on with the video-camera plugged in and the video on the screen. Apparently, Sakuno had the foresight to set everything up in advance for Ryuzaki.

"And I'm sure you noticed some of the regulars earlier, yes?" Ryuzaki said as she played the video. The first match involved the feminine-looking individual and another student who wasn't on the regulars line-up.

"Yes. Who is he?" Inui asked, pointing towards the regular. Ryuzaki squinted as she followed his finger and then burst into laughter. Inui blinked and looked between his former coach and the computer screen.

"If you mean the regular," Ryuzaki said, still laughing, "_her_ name is Akaji Hikari." Inui leaned back and adjusted his glasses before looking at the screen again. He grabbed a notebook out of his bag and began writing notes.

"Her? She's a girl?" Inui asked. Ryuzaki nodded.

"Yup. I was surprised when she asked to compete in the boy's ranking tournament, but I guess she made a deal with Rei-sensei. And of course, we can't tell her no. She's really talented though." Inui responded with appropriate "ah"s and "I see"s.

"I can tell. She has practically zero excess movements and her focus is incredible at least. This tennis, is it-"

"Perfect tennis." Ryuzaki finished, also watching the video.

"Interesting." Inui mumbled, as he finished up his notes on Hikari. The match was still going when the camera began to move. It settled on a match between the red-haired and blond regulars from before. Inui's mouth nearly dropped at how good the two were. Ryuzaki let out a triumphant "hmph" when she noticed.

"The redhead is this year's captain, Chimei Kenmaru. I wasn't sure if he would be able to stay on the team this year, seeing as how he's a bit of a troublemaker. Had to threaten him to calm down. His opponent is the vice-captain: Toshiro Densuke." Inui barely heard Ryuzaki as his pencil slowly eroded due to the speed of his note-taking. These two boys were easily national-level players.

Inui looked up at a pause in the game.

"Chimei is aiming pretty close to the body, although I can't tell if he's missing or the blond -Toshiro-kun wasn't it?- is avoiding the ball." Inui said sternly.

"No, me and Chimei-kun had a very serious talk about that. If he intentionally harms another player, he's off the team and he knows it. He likes to play it close though." Inui looked at Ryuzaki, whose eyes were fixated on the screen. Inui turned his attention back to the computer screen. The two watched the match in silence for a few minutes before Ryuzaki let out a small laugh.

"I have to admit though, I'd rather play Chimei than Toshiro," she said. Inui laughed.

"I can see why. That Toshiro-kun, he's a pretty cruel player himself." Inui said, as he scribbled in his notebook while Ryuzaki agreed.

"You should watch them play doubles together. I've only done it once and I felt horrible for it." Ryuzaki half-joked, causing Inui to laugh.

"Ryuzaki-sensei feeling bad? I'm not sure I want to see something that brutal." Ryuzaki burst into laughter again, which made Inui smile. As the two watched the videos, Inui felt a rush inside of him, the kind he had not felt in quite some time. By the end of the night, his notebook was almost completely full of nothing but hypothetical questions and possibilities based off the video.

"So what do you think, Inui-kun?" Ryuzaki asked, her eyes an odd mixture of honest curiosity in Inui's thoughts and pride in her current regulars. Inui chuckled as he stood up.

"I think, this is going to be an interesting year, Ryuzaki-sensei."


	2. Chapter 2

It had taken what felt like hours of ass kissing, data spewing, and nearly empty promises but Inui had finally managed to convince his child psychology teacher to let him start leaving class early so that he could make it to Seigaku on time. It had taken significantly more time and effort to convince Renji to send his copies of the notes to Inui every night so that he could stay caught up. Somehow though, Inui had managed to do it.

Inui felt rather proud of himself as pulled into the Seigaku parking lot only ten minutes after practice had started. It wasn't Inui's most ideal time, but it would suffice. After his standard double-check to make sure he had everything, Inui closed his car door and made his way to the courts. As he expected, a majority of the club members were working on the courts while the regulars ran laps around them. It hadn't taken long before Inui found Ryuzaki. However, when she saw him she looked horrified.

"INUI-SEMPAI!" A voice echoed across the courts. Inui jumped as he searched for the source of the voice. He then noticed two of the regulars, the captain and vice-captain coming towards him and Ryuzaki following closely behind.

"Ah, you're-"

"I'm Chimei Kenmaru and I challenge you to a match!" The redhead declared boldly, making sure everyone could hear him. Beside him, the vice-captain, Toshiro, smiled sheepishly while Ryuzaki groaned.

"Enough of that young man," Ryuzaki ordered, much to Chimei's chagrin.

"I already issued the challenge, he has to accept!" Chimei exclaimed before half-glaring at Inui, who found himself in a growingly awkward situation as more and more club members began to look between him and Chimei. Inui laughed a little.

"Another time Chimei," Ryuzaki shot back strictly. Chimei glowered at her before Toshiro stepped in with a slight grin on his face.

"Come on, we still have laps to run Chimei-kun." He said half-pulling his captain back outside the courts. As the two stalked off, Inui turned to Ryuzaki.

"It would have been no trouble, really. Although I don't actually have a racquet." He stated sheepishly.

"Nor are you even dressed appropriately for tennis," Ryuzaki snorted jokingly referencing Inui's high school uniform. The former Seigaku middle schooler chuckled slightly as his eyes went back to the regulars. Even as he ran, Chimei was clearly seething. Although he was going at a rather rigorous pace, Inui noticed that Toshiro was right next to him apparently talking and laughing as though it were no big deal.

"Toshiro really is a scary kid," Ryuzaki said, openly voicing Inui's thoughts. "He's one of a very select group of people capable of bringing Chimei out of a mood." Inui noted that with interest. After a few more laps, the regulars were finished and Inui followed Ryuzaki as she went to explain the next part of their training.

"Alright you guys, the Preliminary tournament is next week and we have a lot to get done before then. The most pressing issue at hand, however, is our doubles. The only solid doubles team we have right now is the Dara twins so Chimei, Toshiro, I'm going to place you two in the Doubles 1 spot." At this, cruel smiles lit the faces of Chimei and Toshiro while the Dara twins, Masaomi and Mikado, were clearly pleased about being Seigaku's 'only solid doubles team'.

"That leaves our singles," Ryuzaki continued. "With Haku-kun leaving us, we have Akaji-kun, Mizaru-kun, and Kaidoh-kun. How you three want to set up the order is up to you, although I'll need something to turn in by the end of practice today. Chimei-kun and Toshiro-kun, I need you to work with the twins for a while. Akaji, Mizaru, and Kaidoh I want you three to start running drills with Inui." Inui, at unexpectedly hearing his own name, quickly turned to look at Ryuzaki who gave him a mischievous grin.

"Alright you guys, let's go. You three, take Inui to the 4th court." Inui followed the three singles regulars while broadcasting silent protests toward Ryuzaki.

"Well, I was actually unaware that I would be running drills with you three so I-"

"Does that mean we don't have to do drills?" Mizaru asked excitedly. Akaji rolled her eyes.

"You wish Mizaru, don't be such a slacker." She said, even though Inui could tell the idea excited her just as much as it did Mizaru.

"Don't worry you two, it's Inui-san, so I'm sure he has something." Hazue responded, looking at Inui hopefully. Inui nodded as he walked to opposite side of the court. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a chalk container (one of the many strange things in his bag Inui kept "just in case") and proceeded to draw a small circle at the center of the baseline. He then drew equally small circles at the corners of the baseline and slightly bigger, but still small, circles at the corners of the service lines. Finally, Inui took out a piece of red chalk and drew three large circles in the back courts and drew a cross in the center circle and X's in the outer circles. Pleased with his work, Inui stood up and walked over to the middle schoolers.

"Now, this drill will work on ball control - specifically your serve and corner shots. Your goal is to hit the ball into the small white circles and only those. You will go twice, once as a serve and the other as a forehand. Questions?" Inui asked. Mizaru's hand went up.

"If we're aiming for the white circles, what are the red ones for?" He asked.

"Distraction," Inui said pushing up his glasses causing the sunlight to reflect off them sinisterly. With that Inui walked to the opposite courts baseline and waiting for the regulars to decide on an order. It was eventually decided that Hazue would go first. He took a deep breath and bounced the ball a few times before tossing it in the air. The serve was good, Inui noted, and the ball landed just in front of the circle. Hazue then let his second tennis ball fall onto the ground and hit the ball with a forehand on the bounce. This time, the ball went perfectly inside the circle. Inui noted the information in his notebook.

Next was Akaji and, as Inui had predicted, both of her shots landed perfectly inside of the circles. While they lacked Hazue's power, Akaji's ball control was admittedly excellent; especially for her age. While Inui had known Hazue since the latter was in elementary school he knew of Akaji's particular tennis style, Inui found that Mizaru was something of a wild card as far as Inui's data was concerned.

With interest, Inui watched as Mizaru's serve went outside the service box and the forehand landed slightly in front of the circle. After a few more runs, Inui figured that Mizaru was more of an aggressive baseliner whose style focused more on speed and power than actual control. Of the 60 runs, Mizaru had managed to land 80 inside the circles and only 10 were counted out. Conversely, Hazue landed 98 inside of the circles with 4 outs and Akaji managed 110 inside the circles with 0 outs.

By the end of the day, the trio were rightly tired, although not exhausted. When they met with the other regulars, Inui was shocked at how worn out the Dara twins were in comparison with Chimei and Toshiro.

"Oh man, Mizaru, it was so uncool!" Masaomi exclaimed dramatically. "We didn't score a single point! Not one!" Although he didn't say anything, Mikado was clearly equally as frustrated as his younger brother. Toshiro came up behind his juniors with a small chuckle.

"I told you your overreacting Masaomi-kun, you guys did really good." He said, his voice sounding rather impressed.

"Your formations are really good and you're both talented players. Me and Densuke were just better players overall." Chimei stated bluntly, much to Masaomi's annoyance.

"Hey! What kind of encouragement is that?!" He exclaimed non-seriously, earning chuckles from the rest of the regulars. At this point, Inui had retreated to Ryuzaki's side.

"How did it go with them?" Ryuzaki asked, not taking her proud eyes off of her regulars. Inui wondered if she had looked at his team like that in middle school. It was certainly strange, being on the outside for once.

"It went well. I wasn't exactly prepared, so we mostly did some ball control exercises and the like." Ryuzaki chuckled.

"Yeah, I knew you'd figure something out Inui-kun. You're a smart kid. Always were." Inui noted the wistful tone in her voice and was about to comment when Ryuzaki spoke up again.

"So ball control huh?" She asked with a laugh. "I can't imagine Mizaru was too keen on being showed up there." Inui looked at Ryuzaki, her eyes still focused on the regular with a look that was both motherly yet regal as well.

"No he was not," Inui responded with a laugh. "He lacks Hazue's experience and Akaji-san's grace. But he's talented regardless." Ryuzaki nodded at this before finally looking at Inui.

"They all are really. Thanks for taking over for the other three. I really wanted to work with the twins on their doubles today."

"Did they really not score a single point the entire time?" Inui asked incredulously. After all, they had been working for about an hour at least.

"I'm sure Masaomi-kun exaggerated the details greatly. They only played two games. And while no, they didn't score, the twins actually came close quite a few times. They were actually pressuring Chimei and Toshiro at a few points." Ryuzaki explained as the regulars began to pack up to leave.

"They definitely don't play like many doubles teams. I think that's what'll give them an advantage this year." She continued. By now the regulars were beginning their walk home. Before they left, however, Chimei stopped in front of Inui and Ryuzaki.

"Inui-sempai, we're gonna have our match." Chimei challenged, causing Ryuzaki to burst into laughter. Chimei seemed annoyed at having the tense atmosphere he created shattered.

"Deal." Inui said as he outstretched his hand. With a final challenging smile, Chimei shook it, thus ending the day and yet starting the season.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ah, it's such a nice day today." Mizaru thought aloud. "A perfect day to be sleeping." He continued, much to the chagrin of Akaji.

"Really Mizaru-kun? The first meet of the season and you're worried about sleep?" She asked incredulously. Next to her, Masaomi yawned.

"I don't know Akaji-kun, sleep sounds pretty good right now." Toshiro responded nonchalantly. Akaji sighed and smacked her forehead.

"You guys are impossible." She mumbled. The entirety of the Seigaku, save for Chimei who had arrived earlier, had just arrived at the Tokyo National Park for their first match in the districts preliminary tournament. They hadn't gotten far when Ryuzaki, along with Inui and Chimei, met them.

"Hey, we're having our matches this way." Chimei said, his voice conveying the dissatisfaction with the meet. Ryuzaki looked at him with a frown while Inui regarded him curiously. While the rest of the team followed their captain, Inui stayed behind to talk to his former coach.

"Chimei doesn't seem particularly pleased to be here," Inui stated. Ryuzaki laughed at the obviousness of the sentence. She then sighed.

"Well, Fudoumine simply isn't as powerful as it once was. Tachibana Ann managed to keep them competitive, but since she graduated to high school, they've just...had trouble reaching their former glory." Inui regarded the information rather woefully. Fudoumine, one of Seigaku's closest and strongest rivals in his day. He was curious to see the team now.

* * *

"The match between Seishun Gakuen and Fudoumine Chugakko will now begin. May the participants for the Doubles 2 match please step forward." The umpire announced. The Dara twins grinned at each other as they took their side of the court. Across the net, stood another pair of twins although Fudoumine's twins were far more imposing.

"You ready Mikado?" Masaomi asked his older brother, keeping his eye trained on the server bouncing the ball on the opposite side of the net.

"Yup," Mikado responded as the ball was served. It was a relatively heavy shot, but Mikado managed to return it. Immediately, he thought of how to get himself to the front and Masaomi at the baseline. Mikado ran a few steps forward and returned another heavy shot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Masaomi sneaking towards the baseline and inwardly smiled.

Inui watched as Mikado returned another shot, this time with two hands instead of one. Inui saw the Fudoumine team's plan immediately. Focus their power on one player. And Mikado, who was playing the net, was falling right into it.

"He needs to get out of there." Toshiro stated, giving a voice to Inui's thoughts. Inui regarded the 3rd-year with interest. He could see the gears turning, as if Toshiro were attempting to telepathically transmit a plan to the twins. Toshiro really was a scary kid. Inui turned back to the match just as Fudoumine score the first point.

"15-love!" The referee exclaimed. The twins, however, didn't seem deterred. Fudoumine's server smirked as he served again. Inui noted the increase in power from the first serve. Masaomi winced slightly as he returned it. His arm burned slightly but not enough for Masaomi to keep his mind it. He heard the sound of the ball being returned and prepared himself only to watch Mikado return it.

Like a bullet, the ball came speeding past Mikado and Masaomi only barely managed to return it with a lob. He watched as the ball sailed into the air as one of the Fudoumine twins leapt into the air for a smash.

"30-love!" The referee shouted. Masaomi's smile had dropped, but Mikado's face remained calm, almost bored looking. As he made his way to the baseline, Mikado looked at his brother and smiled.

"Don't get so worked up Masaomi," he said. Masaomi blinked and then sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Right, it's still early." The blond said, turning to face his opponent's once again. Despite his brother's insistence to stay positive, however, Masaomi couldn't help but feel more and more desperate as their opponents continued to score. Before he knew it, they were down two games.

"What're they doing? Let's go you slackers!" Chimei shouted crossly. Hikari looked at him incredulously, mouth agape.

"Sempai!" She exclaimed, much to both Chimei and Toshiro's amusement.

"Quit being such a girl Hikari. The twins are tough, they'll be fine." Chimei said cooly. Hikari glowered at the 'girl' comment, but said nothing. To her surprise, however, Masaomi didn't look as dejected as he did just moments ago. Hikari watched as Fudoumine served the ball.

The serve came and Masaomi heard Mikado return it. The ball sailed past him, but Masaomi didn't move and neither did Mikado. Without looking, Masaomi could feel his brother on the other side of the imaginary line that split their part of the court in half. Their opponent saw an opening down the center of the court and went for it.

At that moment, Masaomi jumped backwards while Mikado surged forward using the momentum to add power to his shot. The ball sailed to the far back corner of the court, just to be returned by one of Fudoumine's twins. The moment of the impact, Mikado went left as Masaomi went right once again using momentum to return his opponent's power shot.

"I see, so that's their plan..." Inui thought out loud.

"This is the Dara twins' masterpiece. Welcome to the Ikebukuro Formation." Toshiro said dramatically. Inui watched as the Daras would simultaneously move every time their opponents would return the shot. Inui had been to Ikebukuro at night once and he instantly made the connection between the twins' formation and the city's night life. Just like the constantly moving lights of cars and motorcycles, the twins would stop and start so suddenly, even in the stands Inui felt hesitant to make a move.

Inui could tell that Fudoumine could feel the sudden increase in pressure as well. Their momentum was gone as Mikado and Masaomi picked up points left and right. In what seemed like minutes, Seigaku was winning three games to two. But Inui could see the Ikebukuro Formation was beginning to take its toll. While Fudoumine's twins had felt the wrath of the consistently inconsistent formation, Seigaku's twins were the ones who had been running back and forth for three games straight.

"Come on you two," Hazue willed quietly and Inui could see the rest of Seigaku silently offering their strength.

* * *

"Quit looking so down," Ryuzaki said as the twins walked to her from their 6-4 loss. "We'll work on your endurance later." Her voice was stern, but soft as well - the tone that her voice nearly always had in her old age. Masaomi had an annoyed frown on his face.

"Thank you sensei," Mikado said with a shallow bow before leading his brother upstairs. Chimei and Toshiro looked at them, Chimei with a cocky grin on his face.

"You two did amazing. I was impressed you managed to keep the Ikebukuro Formation up that long." Toshiro said. Masaomi looked at him, his frown softening slightly.

"We still lost. Sorry sempai." Chimei shrug.

"It's Fudoumine, we'll end up winning anyway." The sheer confidence in his voice bought a smile to Masaomi's face. He watched as his captain and vice-captain walked onto the court.

Across the net stood Fudoumine's Doubles 1 team, all but oozing arrogance. One of them was a tall, muscular young man had his arms folded and a proud sneer on his voice. Next to him, stood his partner, who was just as tall but lacked his partner's imposing build. As they stepped up to the net, Toshiro offered his hand with a calm smile on his face. Chimei scoffed when neither of Fudoumine's players shook it.

"We," the muscular one of the duo began, "are Yoroi Lee and Ren Toramaru of Fudoumine's Golden Pair." He announced with a dark smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Inui joined the rest of the court in a stunned silence. The only ones who didn't seem shocked into submission was Ryuzaki, Chimei, and Toshiro. Everyone else simply stared at the court in awe. Even the referee could do nothing but stare, mouth agape.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you going to call it?" Toshiro asked, with his usually calm voice. Chimei scoffed as he began to walk off.

"Our Golden Pair...just like that..." the Fudoumine captain, a slim and fairly short individual, said bewildered.

"I knew they were strong but..." Hikari said, more to himself than to her team all of whom shared her sentiment. Similar statements of disbelief echoed throughout the stands. Across from Toshiro, who stood there with his fingers locked behind his blond hair, the members of Fudoumine's "Golden Pair" sat on the ground, too flustered to speak.

"Excuse me, Referee-san," Toshiro tried again. This time, it worked as the referee blinked his eyes in surprise.

"F-forgive me. Game set and match. Six games to zero. The winners: Seigaku." He announced, his voice still quiet from the crushing defeat he had just witnessed. Pleased that his victory was now official, Toshiro ran to catch up to his partner.

Now that he had gotten over the initial shock, Inui found the mental awareness necessary to curse himself for not being able to record any data on the current captain and vice-captain of Seigaku. He remembered watching the Fudoumine team use both the Australian and I Formations, but no matter what they used, it was no use. Chimei and Toshiro were simply too strong. Inui had 6-0 games before, but it was rare that the loser never got a single point.

"Chimei-sempai, Toshiro-sempai..." Hikari whispered in awe. Chimei flashed his trademarked cocky grin at her, his light blue eyes shining in the sun.

"Hikari, don't you got a match? Get out there." He ordered.

"R-Right, I won't let you down sempai!" Hikari stuttered before running towards the court. Toshiro chuckled slightly.

"Well, we certainly will be one tough act to follow." He joked slyly. Inui glanced at him again.

"Toshiro-kun," he began, causing both Toshiro and Chimei to look at him. "Next time, could you, um, not finish the game so quickly. I wasn't able to get much data." Inui stated.

"What? Inui couldn't get any data? Your skills must be slipping in your old age!" Ryuzaki cried out. All of the Seigaku regulars turned to see their coach come up the stairs with Hikari in tow.

"Is something wrong sensei?" Inui asked, ignoring his former coach's wisecrack. The elderly woman shrugged, a maniacal grin on her face.

"Apparently those Fudoumine boys are too shaken up so Fudoumine's calling for a quick break." At this, Chimei burst into an uproarious fit of laughter, as did a few of the other regulars. Toshiro just gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head.

"I guess we really overdid it, huh?" He asked. Ryuzaki, who had been attempting to hold in her laughter this whole time, found herself clutching her stomach from laughing so hard.

* * *

Hikari took a deep breath before making her way onto the court. Butterflies danced in her stomach and there was a huge lump in her throat that she couldn't get rid of. As Ryuzaki had so bluntly put, Hikari would be the first female to play in the boys' middle school circuit ever. Her opponent, looked at her with a disgusted sneer.

"Great, more insults from Seigaku." He spat. Hikari said nothing, but continued to look at him with determined eyes. The referee shot Hikari a questioning look, but said nothing, causing Hikari to wonder if he had already been filled in on the fact that there would be a girl playing with the boys. He didn't seem to care much and proceeded to introduce the two players.

"Wait, you're serious right now? This girl is gonna be my opponent? No way!" Fudoumine's Kenji Aomaru exclaimed, interrupting the official who clearly did not approve of being cut off. He glared at Aomaru briefly before continuing his introductions. "Hey, I'm being serious here! She can't play, the-"

"If you interrupt me again, young man, you will forfeit this match. Do I make myself clear?" The official growled. Aomaru seethed silently, glaring at Hikari who refused to be intimidated. "Hikari to serve."

Both Hikari and Aomaru walked to their respective baselines and Hikari began to bounce the ball.

"Let's go Girlie!" Aomaru taunted from across the net. Hikari ignored him and served. The serve was technically perfect and Aomaru seemed grudgingly surprised as he returned it. Hikari aimed to the opposite corner of Aomaru without thinking, immediately earning the first point. A polite applause broke out. Hikari looked up to see not only her team cheering her on and Fudoumine scowling at her, but several other individuals she hadn't noticed before. And all eyes were on her. She was something new. She was the star attraction.

From the bench, Ryuzaki could see Hikari beginning to feel the pressure.

"Come on Hikari, don't fold under the pressure. You have to be strong." She whispered, urging her pupil to press on. Hikari's second serve, much to Ryuzaki's relief, was as excellent as her first although Hikari did, for a split second look up at the stands and barely managed to return a shot. "Focus!" Ryuzaki hissed.

In the stands, Mizaru's hands were clenched in tight fists as he watched the game. Even more than his teammates, he found himself wishing Hikari luck and shouting encouragement. He faintly heard a condescending chuckle from Chimei, but ignored it. Like most of Fudoumine, Aomaru seemed to focus mostly on using power to overwhelm Hikari. To her credit, however, Hikari stayed focused and used technique to keep herself from the worst of Aomaru's attack.

Inui found himself more and more impressed with Hikari as the match went on. Along with her excellent control, Inui couldn't help but be impressed by the girl's overall tennis sense. She seemed to instinctively know when to drop, when to lob, and when to splice and poor Aomaru found himself being pushed further and further into a corner. It had only taken a few minutes for Hikari to take the first game.

"Yeah Hikari, you got this!" Mizaru shouted. Inui stifled a laugh.

"Don't get too excited Mizaru-kun," Toshiro warned, his face serious. Mizaru's face fell as he looked at Toshiro. "The real test is about to start for Hikari. I've played Kenji-kun before. He's not a power player." Mizaru's face went from curious to concerned and his eyes went wide.

"W-what do you mean? He's been using his power this whole time! Why wouldn't he be a power player?" Mizaru cried out. Toshiro's face remained stoic.

"He thought he could take the game using just his power. Now that he knows that's not enough, he'll start to play seriously." Mizaru turned back to the court just in time to witness Aomaru's serve disappear.

"15-love!" The official announced.

"Woah, what was that serve? I couldn't even see it!" Masaomi exclaimed, wide-eyed. Toshiro said nothing although Chimei's nearly always present grin seemed to widen.

"Alright Hikari, time to see how good you really are." He said ominously. Mizaru looked at him and then back towards the court where Aomaru was preparing to serve again. Just like the first time, Hikari was unable to react to the sheer speed of the serve, causing her to go 30-love.

"Let's go Girlie! You looked so confident before!" Aomaru shouted as he prepared to serve again. Hikari said nothing, but her mind was racing. She wanted to look up into the stands, to see if the spectators were beginning to share Aomaru's sentiment, but forced herself to focus on Aomaru. He served and this time Hikari barely managed to return the serve, although the ball only hit the net.

"40-love!" Hikari inwardly cursed as Aomaru gave her a very Chimei-like grin. No, Chimei's grins were mean but always had a hint of encouragement in them as if Chimei were trying to goad you into doing better. Aomaru only wanted to anger her. Hikari wouldn't let him win on that front. She gritted her teeth and prepared for the next serve.

"What's that look? You don't really think you can return my Blue Ace do you?" Aomaru bragged as he served again, winning him the game. Hikari didn't let her frustration show. It was her serve now. She could win her service game. With that thought in her mind, Hikari served, putting as much power into her serve as she could without ruining her technique. She looked up and saw Aomaru's arrogant expression as he returned the serve with his Blue Ace.

"No way..." Hikari managed to whisper.

"15-love." Hikari gathered her resolve and served, only to be defeated by the Blue Ace again. And again. And again. Confidence began to pour out of Hikari with sweat and a quick look into the stands revealed the haughty glances of the spectators. It was like they expected. A girl didn't belong here. Hikari could do nothing but listen to Aomaru's taunts and jeers as his Blue Ace continued to score him points. Soon, another game was gone from her.

"Two games to one!" The official shouted.

"Don't tell me you thought you could actually compete with me! I'm Kenji Aomaru!" Aomaru shouted as he served yet another Blue Ace. And another. And another. And another.

"Three games to one!" Inui watched on as Hikari attempted another of her faster serves to no avail.

"This is going south really fast." Toshiro noted grimly. "That move is really troublesome, even for me." He continued, earning the surprise of Masaomi and Mizaru.

"A move that even Toshiro-sempai has trouble with...how is Hikari supposed to deal with that?" Masaomi asked to no one in particular as the official made the 40-love announcement. Mizaru was glaring at the court as Hikari bounced the ball. The girl was clearly shaken and her loss of confidence only made Aomaru seem that much more impossible.

"Dammit, come on Hikari-chan!" Mizaru shouted suddenly, causing everyone on his team to jump. "Keep fighting, don't lose to him! You have too much to prove! Don't give up!" He continued. For a while, everything stopped.

"Mizaru-kun..." Hikari said quietly. She then looked up towards her teammate. "Thank you." She whispered. Up in the stands, Chimei pretended to gag.

"Ugh how sappy can you get? What is this some, shitty shoujo anime?" He muttered, although his grin made his true feelings obvious. Toshiro laughed at his bravado, as did the twins. Even Inui couldn't help but smile.

"Let's go Hikari-chan!" Mizaru shouted one more time before Hikari turned to face Aomaru, a new fire in her eyes.

"What? Your little boyfriend cheers and you get a big head? I'll put that fire out, don't you worry." Aomaru threatened. Hikari smirked and then served the ball.


End file.
